


That Was No Ostrich Egg

by 10moonymhrivertam



Series: The Once and Future...Spy?! [4]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Dragons, Dragons don't understand politics, Gen, Immortal Merlin, or class
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-02 19:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12732714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/10moonymhrivertam/pseuds/10moonymhrivertam
Summary: Q closed his eyes as he listened to the distant cooing - a mother soothing her as-yet-unhatched child. If Q didn’t do something, Bond was likely to die - most brooding dragons were highly anxious, let alone those who had recovered a stolen egg barely an hour ago. If Bond died, Q had no idea what he’d do. He’d waited for so long - he couldn’t wait millennia to find Arthur again.





	That Was No Ostrich Egg

**Author's Note:**

> While I have not finished Merlin, I've been on a binge, so hopefully soon you will all have a slightly more competent writer. :P
> 
> If the timeline seems vague, that's deliberate, to give me wiggle room to try and prevent writer's block - it's also why this a series rather than a chaptered story. With a chaptered story I feel obligated to a firm timeline.
> 
> ALSO - Bond/Merlin AU is a bit of a boring title for the series, isn't it? Anyone got ideas? I'm a bit at a loss.

The Quartermaster of MI6 would never admit to feeling “frantic” - that type of emotion was irresponsible in his position. True, he was only human, but he suspected (or, perhaps, hoped) that many agents saw him as their rock - a cybernetic god who was steady even when they were in the deepest turmoil. That being said, it was Bond who most often brought out his anxiety - but then, that was only to be expected. Who knew that the Once and Future King would select such a high-risk career in his second life?

“Bond, need I remind you that I’m your superior officer?” Q snapped.

“No need, Q. I remember.”

“Turn around and go back to your hotel.”

“Can’t do that, I’m afraid.”

“You’re getting quite concerned over a man with an ostrich egg,” Q insisted.

“You’re only looking through cameras - I’m afraid that was no ostrich egg, Quartermaster. More valuable than an ostrich egg, too, probably, considering the level of overkill. Burns  _ and _ slashes. Bit much, don’t you think?”

“Dramatic irony though it may have been, giving Greene motor oil to drink was ‘a bit much’. These things happen, especially if it was some personal vendetta. Turn back, Bond.”

“My, my, Quartermaster. Anyone would think you’re hiding something, you’re so insistent.”

“What could I possibly be hiding from here?” Q suppressed a hysterical laugh.

“I was asking myself the same thing.” Q watched over the monitors as Bond approached a pile of rocks, peering at a large gap between them.

“James Bond. Leave. Now!”

“A spy should never have secrets in espionage, Q.” And then Bond ducked inside the cave. Q cursed, his hands hovering over his keyboard. There was nothing he could do now - no cameras to manipulate, no doors to open or close, no traffic lights to switch to red. He could only listen to Bond’s breathing and the shifting of rocks, and to a soft murmuring somewhere in the distance. Q closed his eyes as he listened to the distant cooing - a mother soothing her as-yet-unhatched child. If Q didn’t do something, Bond was likely to die - most brooding dragons were highly anxious, let alone those who had recovered a stolen egg barely an hour ago. If Bond died, Q had no idea what he’d do. He’d waited for so long - he couldn’t wait millennia to find Arthur again. It would be agony. Q let out a deep, resigned sigh. The noise stopped Bond in his tracks, but Q didn’t notice that.

“And a servant in Camelot would be wise not to have magic, either,” he remarked before taking off his headset and saying a few decisive words, and he winked out from his place in his office.

*

She nearly took his head off before his eyes had finished adjusting. He didn't blame her, though - anyone, even someone less frazzled than her, might've tried to attack a man who appeared out of thin air. He ducked just in time, however, scrambling for the side of the cave. He squinted at her and tried to reconcile things in his head - where had Bond been, Italy? Aglaia was the eldest in the area, with a few old enough to breed. Who could it be, then? Aglaia? Or one of her daughters: Doireann, Raijin, Marama? Whoever-it-was was opening her maw to breathe a jet of flame at him.

“Raijin!” he guessed, putting the power of a Dragonlord behind it, causing his eyes to glow. If Bond could see this far into the cave, it must be an eerie sight - the glow at the back of the dragon’s throat and two rings of gold roughly five feet above the ground. “It’s me! It’s me.”

The dragon’s mouth closed, but the area filled with smoke expelled through her nostrils.

“Emrys?” the dragon rumbled. “I thought Mother said you wouldn’t be by again for at least another decade.”

“That was the plan, roughly. I did - do - wa nt to try and be around for the hatching. I’m afraid I have a friend who made a rather poor decision, however, so I’m here early. He saw the man who tried to take your child. He thought a human had done it, and he thought it was prudent to have a sharp word with them,” Q remarked. More smoke filled the room at those words.

“We want to be alone!” Raijin snarled.

“I know. I know. But getting him to listen to me is about as simple as trying to keep Uther from using Excaliber.” The phrase gave Raijin pause.

“To hear Kilgarrah tell it, that was a simple task that you failed miserably.”

Q glared. “He was a king and I was a servant. I  _ couldn’t _ \- oh, there’s no point,” he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose - this always seemed to come up between he and the dragons, and they never understood. “I apologize for intruding, Raijin. I’ll just take my friend and go. I’ll try and be back for the hatching, alright?”

Raijin rumbled in response, curling around her egg. Q nodded and hurried for the entrance to her lair. He grabbed Bond by the arm and spoke an incantation.

* * *

“What - the  _ hell _ ?”

Q ignored Bond’s exclamation for now, going straight for his cats.

“Yes, hello, Gwen. I’ve missed you. Has your sister behaved herself, hm? Where’s Morgana?” he asked, giving Gwen one long stroke along her spine and straightening up. He turned to find his other cat only to be gripped forcefully by his arms and slammed into the refrigerator behind him. He stared into Bond’s eyes, a jolt going down his spine at the intensity of Bond’s focus.

“What did you do?” Bond asked, his voice low and gravelly.

“Magic.”

“Don’t play games!” Bond said, shaking Q. Q snarled.

“Bond, you just watched me convince a dragon not to kill you, and you don’t believe what I did was magic?” Q wrenched out of Bond’s grasp. “Think it through. You were certainly in Italy, because you got there in the usual way you’d get to any mission. You’d finished your mission, and you got distracted over a man with a large egg who was burned and slashed,” Q pointed out. “You walked into that cave, and up until that point I was in your ear. And then I was actually  _ there _ ,” Q pointed out. “In front of you. I grabbed you. And now you’re here. Is it that hard to understand?”

“There is no such thing as magic,” Bond growled.

“Well, don’t you sound like a Dursley,” Q grumbled. Despite the gruff face he was putting on, his heart was sinking. He had thought, in this day and age, with no ingrained prejudice, it would be safe. But all those similarities to Camelot’s King that had been such a comfort on his spreadsheet were now coming back to bite him. It didn’t help that Bond’s disbelief felt like a physical blow - Q’s life being tied into magic made it quite difficult to live in a day and age where the majority of the population had convinced themselves magic was a thing of fiction.

“So what is it, then? Drugging? A digital trick?” Bond demanded.

“Magic. If you believe I’m a liar, then kindly get out of my house.”

“Your house? We were in Italy - we  _ must _ be in Italy!”

“You’re in my home. We’re in England.” Bond stalked forward, but Q held his ground - equal parts bravery and foolishness, as it had always been. Bond was going to say something, but there was a sudden threatening hiss and a feline growl. Surprised, Q blinked and looked up.

“Huh. Morgana doesn’t like you. What a coincidence.” And a coincidence it must have been - he would be able to tell if his cat were their old nemesis, back again. Q’s eyes slid from the angry cat atop his fridge and back to Bond. With a little sigh, he spoke a series of words, eyes glowing. Bond’s eyes rolled back in his head and Q spoke rapidly, slowing his fall so he wouldn’t hit the ground too hard. The spell should have wiped his memory of his encounter with magic as well as knocking him out. For the next spell, Q didn’t bother with an incantation - his eyes turning gold as he thrust out his hand. Air rushed into the spot Bond had left, creating a minor, thunder-like crack that frightened Gwen and Morgana, sending them rushing out of the room, probably to hide under his bed.

Q stood in his kitchen, alone, and sighed with a deep exhaustion.

**Author's Note:**

> ALSO - Bond/Merlin AU is a bit of a boring title for the series, isn't it? Anyone got ideas? I'm a bit at a loss.


End file.
